Temporary Works

Every year, a fabulous collection of fairy and gnome homes appears at Annmarie! Don't miss this magical annual exhibit!

Hidden Midden

2012

by Kaitlin Kylie Pomerantz with the help of John Broderick Heron

"An oyster midden is a pile of discarded oyster shells. Oyster middens stretched for miles along Eastern Seaboard-- remnants of ancient Indian cultures who lived along the coast and consumed large quantities of oysters. When cars were invented in the early 20th century, many of these historical piles were mined and hauled away for use as road fill. Though this was good for road building, it was bad for marine ecology, as the shell middens served as sources of nutrients for new marine life.

Hidden Midden is a creative rumination on this historical phenomenon and a reminder of the layers of history and remnants of the past that lay hidden, at each moment, beneath our feet. In this pile, we see the progression from the natural world to the industrial, built world. But- in the weeds and mosses that have inserted themselves onto this work-- we also see how nature ignores man's efforts and layers of concrete, and chooses to grow and thrive where it will. All of the objects in this sculpture are discarded materials-- shells from a happy diner's meal, bricks from an old house, asphalt from a bygone playground. Let us remember that our waste tells our story, and that waste need not be wasted-- but can be used toward, and will inevitably lead to, some form of new life."

Artist statement: Our theme for this piece was the land and sea. For land, we chose four of our world’s geographical regions: arctic, desert, rainforest, and mountains. For the sea, we chose to show different areas of water: beach, underwater, river, and ocean. The land and sea stones have been arranged to create a map of the world.